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The Contracting Business.com Quality Home Comfort Awards are presented each year to residential HVAC contracting firms, based on projects submitted to the publications’ editorial staff. The awards are presented in a variety of categories based on home size and type of installation (new home construction or renovation). This is Jim Patterson’s 11th Quality Home Comfort Award.

In this case, the beneficiaries of Patterson's devotion to his craft are the owners of a 2,726 sq.ft. barn-style guest and pool house. The guest/pool house includes a bedroom, spa, entertaining room, and studio loft. The main room features a 30-ft. high vaulted ceiling and custom wood paneling. Just outside of the structure is a heated in-ground swimming pool and a redwood hot tub. Extensive stone walls surround the pool and hot tub, as well as an outdoor fireplace and shower.

"A desire to blend green efficiency into a design that held several high-demand features, such as the hot tub, shower, and pool, was the driving force behind the design," Patterson says. "We wanted something that served the needs when called on, but remained in the background in the meantime."

Patterson’s design features a 5-ton water-to-water, closed-loop geothermal system that serves the home’s radiant and air systems (both heating and cooling). The home's high ceilings made it a perfect candidate for a staple-down radiant system.

The second-stage of winter heating and summer cooling and dehumidification is accomplished using an air system made up of the geothermal system and two Carrier air handlers equipped with Hydron Module "A" coils.